Black Roses
by TheDarkDancerWithTheDawnRose
Summary: A potions accident has a significant effect on Severus' life and brings about changes he never expected. The changes have a ripple effect on all those within the castle and things start to change for the better. Then, They arrive and the school is once more thrown into turmoil. Will the students pull together or fall apart?
1. Prologue

Hi all, we're flogging you with the stories aren't we? This was one that took a lot of time and consideration before we decided to post it because it's a pairing we don't usually follow. Not because we don't like it but because of the age gap which we've, funnily enough dealt with in this story. It probably seems odd that we're writing this since we're not into the fandom but we read a couple by authors we love and we're inspired to give it a go.

We will give you fair warning some of the characters will be a little OOC, particularly Severus at times but it is explained. It takes place after the final battle and won't be completely post Hogwarts compliant. we've decided that since the year Snape was in charge of the school was so disrupted all the students have to return and repeat it so the story takes place at the beginning of the following year when all the students are back at school for that repeat year. There will be Ron bashing, just a little because we don't like him, and a lot of couplings you might not expect.

We hope you enjoy and feel free to let us know what you think.

**Black Roses**

Prologue

Of course it had to be a potions accident, of course it had to be Neville's cauldron that exploded, but for once at least it wasn't the young Gryffindor's fault. He had actually been an inch away from completing possibly his first ever proper potion that could have ended up being fit for human consumption. Just one more ingredient and the boy would have been home free.

Except that one ingredient he ended up pouring into the potion was the wrong ingredient.

What he had been handed was in fact a mix of different ingredients that had some rather unique properties so when he added them to the potion and it invariably exploded, liberally covering Professor Snape who'd taken the class in place of Slughorn as the older man was feeling unwell that afternoon, well, the end result was nothing short of remarkable. Sadly the rest of the class doubted the DADA professor would see it that way.

He'd immediately fallen unconscious and one of the students had run out to find Pomphrey and Dumbledore while the rest of the class stared at their fallen DADA teacher in awe until help arrived. The reactions of the headmaster and medi-witch were comical, but only because the source of their surprise wasn't awake right at that moment. After an initial examination by the medi-witch Dumbledore levitated Snape to the hospital wing and the class quickly dispersed, the Gryffindor half's main aim being to find somewhere to hide Neville for possibly the remainder of the year.

XX

"Severus, can you hear me?" Snape heard a voice calling to him from the outside world.

He groaned and slowly opened his eyes only to shut them again and throw his hands over them when they were met with insanely bright light. "Aah!" he snarled at the sun ignoring the sound of quiet laughter emanating from nearby.

"Well, at least we know Severus is still Severus." The headmaster's voice said from beside him.

Of course he was still him, why wouldn't he be?

Open your eyes, Severus, we need to have a proper look at you," Poppy said from the other side of Severus and he was sure he heard someone else nearby mutter something about how he needed to get a proper look at himself but he ignored it, slowly forcing his eyes open.

The first thing he saw was the headmaster's damned twinkling eyes and he immediately wanted to close them again.

"There we are. Good morning, Severus, how are you feeling?" the other man greeted him.

"Like one of Longbottom's potions exploded in my face," Severus snarled, trying to sit up only to be stopped by Poppy.

"Now, now young man you're not going anywhere until I say so," the medi-witch ordered before running her wand over him.

"I am hardly young, Madame Pomfrey," he snarled in reply making another attempt to get up only to be stopped once more, this time by Dumbledore.

"Actually, Severus, I believe you may find yourself quite incorrect in that statement at the moment," the headmaster said merrily with a far too happy smile on his face.

"And just what do you mean by that, Headmaster?" Snape snarled at the older man, concerned about what he was going to say.

Albus looked over at the medi-witch who nodded her head before handing Severus a mirror. What he saw nearly made him scream in shock. He was still himself; however the face that looked back at him was quite a good deal younger than his 40 odd years. If he'd had to guess his age at the moment he would have said 19-20. As if that wasn't bad enough he looked as if some twisted, demented fairy god mother had come along and smoothed out all his imperfections. He still looked like him only a perfect him, if such a thing were even possible. If Severus hadn't had such a strong control over his emotions he would have either burst into tears of chucked a world class tantrum that would have rivalled something Draco had thrown as a child.

As it was, despite his age reversal on the outside he was still just as mature and controlled as he'd always been and he managed to keep his emotions in check. He dropped the mirror into his lap and looked up at the headmaster.

"Is it treatable?" he asked simply.

"I'm afraid not, Severus. From the looks of it you're going to be that way forever, well, that's not completely accurate. You will age like a normal person you've just had your clock rewound a little," Dumbledore finished smiling as if this was the best thing in the world.

"I fail to see how you could find this at all joyous, Albus," he growled at the headmaster.

Dumbledore looked back at him in surprise. "Really, not at all? Oh come now, Severus, surely you must be able to appreciate what an opportunity this is for you. To be 20 years old again but still have all the knowledge you've gained over the last 40 that you've lived. Wizards all over the world would kill for an opportunity like this."

"I on the other hand couldn't imagine a worse turn of events," Severus snarled in reply, finally sitting up despite Poppy's orders for him not to move.

"Severus, I still need to run more tests," the medi-witch argued as Snape moved to climb out of the bed.

"You had all the time I was unconscious to run tests, Pomfrey, if you couldn't get them done then too bad!" Severus snarled before pushing the blankets aside and standing up from the bed. "If there's nothing you can do for my current condition then remaining here is pointless and I'd rather be alone," he finished before heading for the door.

He heard Pomfrey begin to splutter an argument but Albus' voice stopped her from getting any further.

"Leave him, Poppy, he needs some time on his own to compute all of this," the headmaster placated the medi-witch and if Severus weren't so angry he would have thanked the other man

He stalked through the castle, ignoring all the looks he was receiving from the student body and stormed into his room. He slammed the door shut behind him and stalked to his bedroom where he dropped onto the bed, covered his face with a pillow and growled out his frustrations. He would have liked to believe that it was a dream and maybe if he closed his eyes he'd drop off to sleep and wake up looking normal again. Sadly he was far too old to have those kinds of delusions anymore; he did however feel an intense need for sleep and decided to indulge his body's desires. Without bothering to change his attire or pull up a blanket he closed his eyes and allowed sleep to claim him. Maybe he'd be able to deal with this better when he woke up.

XX

End of prologue

So that's the prologue the rest of the chapters will be a lot longer this was just a teaser. The story is written quite a bit in advance so let us know if you want more and we'll post up the next chapter ASAP.

Thanks for reading.

Rosalie and Kayla


	2. Chapter One

Hello all, sorry for the long delay we've both been incredibly busy and it's hard perfecting a chapter that involves two authors when neither has time. As it's worked out we've both been unwell so we've finally found time to come together for proofreading purposes. Anyway here's the first real chapter. We know it's relatively short for chapters that usually come from us but we figured there was a lot of stuff happening in this chapter and things start getting a bit more serious in the next one so we wanted you all to enjoy the amusing parts of this one first. So we won't prattle on any more, we hope you enjoy and please review. Review replies will be at the bottom of the chapter as always.

xxoo

Kayla and Rosalie

Chapter One

Severus was slightly calmer the following morning, and feeling a little more rested and a tad readier to face the fact that he'd never have his old body back again he headed into his personal bath room to have a shower. He stripped off his clothes and studied his reflection in the full length mirror all the professors had in their bathrooms for some reason.

He had to give the potion one thing, he was definitely attractive. His face looked like something out of one of those vapid vampire novels the teenage girls all seemed to be reading, with his now silky, black hair framing it in an endearing way. His skin looked like perfect, unblemished porcelain and his body had just the right amount of muscle without being too bulky. If he'd met himself on the street he would have found the person staring back at him immensely attractive and Albus was right, wizards everywhere would kill to look like he did now.

Sadly he wasn't one of them.

He'd always known there were things about him that other people picked on or found unattractive, but he'd never cared what they thought. His big, crooked nose, his greasy hair, his yellow teeth, all of them were part of what made him him. He'd never wanted to change the way he looked because if he did all it meant was that he was lying to himself.

He hadn't always thought that way of course, he hadn't always been wise enough to see the truth behind those words. When he was a teenager he would have killed to look like he did now; as opposed to the small, skinny, underfed and undernourished freak of a child he'd been. Back in those days anything he could have done to improve his looks without receiving scorn from his peers would have been welcome. Then again, back in those days he'd still clung to the hope that someone, somewhere might one day care for him and he'd perhaps have a real family of his own one day. He had no such illusions anymore.

Besides, even if he did still have those kinds of hopes he was also old enough to understand the futility of them in this situation. Even if someone did find themselves attracted to him now it wouldn't be real; he wasn't himself anymore and the attraction would be nothing but a lie. They wouldn't want him for him they'd want him for the Adonis he now personified.

Shaking the thoughts away he climbed into the shower dreading the day ahead of him. As it turned out he was right to do so.

XX

Severus stormed into Dumbledore's office. "I'm going to kill that damn Longbottom boy!" he snarled at the older man before proceeding to stomp around the office in a flurry of anger and black robes.

"What seems to be the matter, Severus?" the Headmaster asked in a calm, patient tone that made Severus want to leap across the desk and strangle the old man with his own beard.

Severus took a few deep breaths, knowing that if he snarled the answer at the Dumbledore he just wouldn't understand what Severus was saying. When at last he felt calm enough to speak evenly he explained. "It appears that Mr Longbottom's potion disaster had more side effects than were immediately apparent."

"All right, what kind of side effects?" the Headmaster asked.

Severus took several minutes trying to decide how best to word his response before finally deciding to just be blunt. "Apparently the potion also had alluring and aphrodisiacal properties. Almost every student I have come across this morning has attempted to throw themselves at me after being in my general vicinity for an hour or more," Severus explained as evenly as he could.

"Just how general a vicinity are we talking, Severus?" Dumbledore asked.

"I cannot be certain, but I spent the morning at the front of my class room and by an hour into the lesson the two front rows were vying quite violently for my attention," Severus replied.

"Oh, that could be quite a problem," Dumbledore replied looking deep in thought for a few moments.

_Well no kidding old man_.

After a few moments of silent consideration Dumbledore turned his attention back to the potions master and gave him a pitying smile. "I guess another trip to Madame Pomfrey is in order."

XX

Pomfrey examined Severus thoroughly and determined that there were indeed extra properties to the potion. She then scolded him for leaving the previous day before she could finish her examinations and not 10 minutes later was making eyes at him accompanied by suggestive comments. Severus wanted to throw up.

"There has to be something that can be done about this," Severus groaned as the mediwitch fawned over him and invaded his personal space.

"I'll find a way to fix you, Sevvy dearest," Pomfrey crooned sweetly moving forward to wrap her arms around him.

"Thank you," Severus said jumping up from the bed and fleeing the medical wing before she managed to achieve her goal.

"Sevvy, where are you going? Come back, I just want to make you feel better," Poppy called in a love sick puppy voice and Severus heard Dumbledore's laughter echo through the hall way behind him as he fled.

He avoided every busy hallway he could on his way back to his office. He still managed to get several appreciative looks cast in his direction from several of the staff and students, male and female alike, before he slipped into the room and slammed the door behind him to lock everyone out. He sighed, relieved to be alone and free of all the attention, a feeling that faded immediately when his eyes fell on the pile of what appeared to be love letters sitting on his desk.

With an agitated snarl he waved his wand angrily at the pile watching with a ridiculous amount of satisfaction as they all went up in smoke. He'd managed to burn his desk a little underneath but he didn't care, at least the damned love letters were gone. He sat down at his desk and dropped his head into his hands. There had to be a way to reverse this; there had to be something he could do to change himself back to the way he used to be. At the very least there had to be something he could do about the potions other side effects.

With a sigh he turned back toward his extensive potions library and scanned through the titles. Spotting Madam Ravenwood's Dictionary of Potions he withdrew it from the book case and placed it on the desk in front of him. He needed to work out what exactly Longbottom had created and how to reverse it and Ravenwood's book was the best place to start.

Opening up the book to the contents page he searched for the section containing aphrodisiac potions. As soon as he located it he began to flick through the book searching for the page number he needed. Surely there had to be something in here to help him.

XX

Several hours and even more books later Severus sat at his desk with his head resting on a pillow made of his arms. Nothing, there was absolutely no reference to a potion that brought about the effects currently plaguing him let alone anything to help him find a way to reverse it. When he reached the section in each book dealing with potions of this type there were always similar listings, but nothing that was exactly like what he was experiencing.

All in all, he was screwed!

A knock on his door made him growl and he lifted his head just enough to snarl at whoever was there to go away.

"Professor Snape, it's professor Trelawney. I know you're not overly keen on company, but there's something urgent I must give to you," the divination teacher called through the door.

Severus pushed himself to his feet with a groan and headed over to open the door. "What?" he snapped at the other professor.

"Well I was in my office a little while ago when I suddenly blacked out. When I came to this was sitting in front of me," the professor stated holding out a piece of parchment. "It's in my hand writing so I must have written it but I don't remember doing so, which usually means it's a message from beyond," she finished handing the parchment to Severus.

To Severus' surprise the parchment had his name written at the top with a poem written beneath it. Confused he looked up to ask the other professor what she thought it meant, but to his shock she was gone. He stuck his head out of his room and looked around but found the corridor devoid of life. With a frown he stepped back into his room and shut the door, taking the parchment over to his desk to read it.

"_Darling Severus,_

_I am a spirit of the night_

_Who comes to thee to shed some light_

_Your path you do not understand_

_So I'll explain what we have planned_

_For you, the potions master great_

_Have had far too long to wait_

_For true love you have long been hoping_

_But with loneliness and pain you have been coping _

_Through the darkness you have served the light well_

_And we wish to reward you with this spell_

_Half of your years we have returned_

_For we believe these you have earned_

_Great beauty we have also given thee_

_And while you may feel it false, please believe me_

_I have only returned what should have been yours_

_The damage to your outward appearance was caused_

_By years of abuse, and the fault is my own_

_You know this is true, though you're not one to moan_

_Or complain of your past, you're a strong one my child_

_Your life's not been easy; it's been crazy and wild_

_I know over the years you have often been burned_

_And through your sacrifice another chance you have earned_

_Now I need to explain so that you understand_

_Why we have chosen to play another hand_

_The spell to attract all those you see_

_Contains a hidden gift for thee_

_For while you will draw everyone to you_

_You will receive true love from only two_

_For one you will feel the love of family_

_The other, your longed for lover will be_

_Together they will make you whole_

_They will soothe and calm your damaged soul_

_Both lay already before your eyes_

_Their love for you they do disguise_

_The first; already a child of god to thee_

_The other a former enemy_

_Though he has cared you right from the start_

_He has kept those feelings locked deep in his heart_

_For fear of rejection, because just like you_

_He has known the love of very few_

_I know you are worried but do not fear_

_Those who love you are very near _

_Your outward appearance has no bearing _

_On their feelings of love and caring_

_What draws their affection is the real you_

_In time you will come to know this is true_

_Take heart, my dear, this is a gift not a curse_

_You will find no cure from a book or a nurse_

_True love is all that will set you free_

_And bring with it wonderful gifts for thee_

_I know this hard so I will grant you a clue_

_The ones out there who truly love you_

_Will not feel any effects of this spell_

_Watch closely and soon you'll be able to tell_

_Who they are, be vigilant, Severus_

_This is your one chance at true happiness._

_If you waste it there will not be another_

_I am with you always my darling, _

_Love_

_Your Mother_

Severus read and reread the poem several times before dropping it on the table and burying his face in his hands. "Damn meddlesome woman," he growled.

XX

Dumbledore studied the piece of parchment for several minutes before placing it down on the desk and studying Severus over his glasses.

"So, your mother wishes to make up for the suffering you've endured, both as a child and an adult," he stated.

"So it would appear," Severus replied looking down at his hands.

"Do you have any idea of whom she may be speaking?" The headmaster asked.

Severus thought about it. "Well, one would appear to be quite obvious; Draco is the only god child I am aware of and one of the very few people I've ever felt any affection for outside of that which one feels for a friend or colleague. It is true that I care for the boy as if he were my own, although I never thought he would return that sentiment. As for the other; I have no idea, Headmaster," Snape replied honestly.

Dumbledore looked deep in thought for a moment before speaking. "Well, if I were to add up all the evidence, I'm afraid I would come to a conclusion you're not going to be overly fond of, Severus," he said.

Severus looked up at the older man with a raised eyebrow. "And that conclusion would be?" he asked.

"That perhaps the one you're meant to spend your life with is a student currently attending Hogwarts," Dumbledore replied.

"You are correct, I do not like it," Severus agreed. "In spite of this, I am curious to know how you came to this conclusion."

"The poem states that your lover is close by. The only people close to you here are students and other faculty members. I would maybe think that it is another professor at the school, except if that were the case reversing your age would have been pointless as the faculty are all of similar age to yourself, well, previously anyway," the old wizard explained. "It is someone you are already acquainted with and who the poem clearly states has always cared for you, indicating that they have known you for some time already; ruling out most of the population of Hogsmead and it is the only town close by. With all that evidence stacked together, what other conclusion is there to draw?"

Severus felt the sense of dread currently residing in his stomach grow in intensity and he dropped his face into his hands with a defeated groan. This was even worse than he'd thought.

XXX

End of chapter one

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